TO: TARA SCHULTZ, CITY MANAGER
FROM: JEREMY SWAN, COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTOR
DATE: FEBRUARY 25, 2020
Reviewed by:
City Manager: TS
Finance Director: AP
SUBJECT:
Title
ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING WILLDAN FINANCIAL SERVICES TO PREPARE THE 2020-21 LANDSCAPE AND LIGHTING DISTRICT ANNUAL REPORT (FUNDING SOURCE: LANDSCAPE AND LIGHTING DISTRICT)
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SUMMARY
State law requires an annual procedure for levying Landscape and Lighting District (LLD) assessments. The first step in the process is to authorize a qualified engineer to prepare the annual report. Willdan Financial Services will prepare the 2020-21 Landscape and Lighting District Annual Report for the City Council’s consideration as required by resolution. The annual report includes the proposed budget for the services provided under the Landscape and Lighting District, which includes the maintenance of right-of-way landscaping, parks, trees, and street lights. Upon completion, the report will be presented to the City Council for review and adoption.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA, DIRECTING WILLDAN FINANCIAL SERVICES, AS ENGINEER OF RECORD, TO PREPARE AND FILE THE 2020-21 ANNUAL REPORT PERTAINING TO LANDSCAPE AND LIGHTING DISTRICT NO. LL001 (PURSUANT TO THE LANDSCAPE AND LIGHTING ACT OF 1972).
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ALTERNATIVE TO RECOMMENDATION
In addition to the recommendation, there is the following alternative:
• Request additional information and delay authorization to begin work on the 2020-21 report.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
The Landscape and Lighting District budget includes $6,000 to prepare the annual LLD report, including engineering services, data processing, printing, mileage, and map duplication.
The staff costs to research this issue, prepare documentation, and complete reports are estimated to be $1,289. These costs include staff time allocated to the project and are included in the operating budget of the Community Services Department.
ANALYSIS
In March 1990, the City Council established the LLD in accordance with existing State law to help pay for the cost of maintaining public landscaping and street lighting. All noticing and public hearing requirements were met during the formation of the LLD. The required process for adjustment of the annual LLD assessment, including public hearings, has been followed each year since that time.
In November 1996, the California electorate approved Proposition 218, which made changes to State law governing Landscape and Lighting Districts. To comply with the full extent of this law, the City Council placed a ballot initiative, known then as Measure A, on the March 4, 1997 local ballot. The initiative asked Claremont voters to ratify the existing district. Voters responded affirmatively.
The City Council is required to adopt a resolution annually authorizing an engineer to begin work on the LLD assessment. The City has contracted with Willdan Financial Services to prepare the annual Engineer’s Report. The work required to prepare the Engineer’s Report includes updating the LLD parcel and land-use database and the preparation of a written report. The City is required to update the parcel and land-use database annually to capture any parcels that need to be added to the annual assessment or to record changes in land-use designations within the district in the prior year. The annual report describes the prior year changes within the district. It also provides an overview of the methodology employed for charging each assessment unit the annual fee, and it sets the rate applied to each parcel.
The preliminary Engineer's Report is scheduled for presentation and review by the Community and Human Services Commission on April 1, 2020, and subsequent presentation to the City Council on May 12, 2020. If the preliminary report is deemed appropriate, the City Council can adopt a resolution of intent to set fees and set a date for the public hearing to adopt the assessment for 2020-21.
Consistent with the provisions of Measure A, the report will recommend an assessment fee adjustment based on the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Based on data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the engineer may use the change in the CPI from February 2019 to February 2020 as the basis for this adjustment. The February to February CPI is used to meet the August 2020 deadline of delivering the annual assessment to the County Assessor. Historically, the annual CPI adjustments generally fluctuate between one and four percent. The adjustment is bound by the change in CPI, and the annual LLD assessment cannot be adjusted any higher than the February to February change in the CPI. A general CPI increase will be the only change proposed for the annual LLD assessment.
To complete the LLD assessment process, a public hearing must be held, which staff anticipates would occur at the June 9, 2020 City Council meeting. The engineer will attend this City Council meeting and be available to answer questions. The hearing will give the public an opportunity to comment on the planned maintenance work proposed for the coming year and on the proposed assessment fees. Changes may be made to the Engineer's Report until the close of this hearing. The City Council will then be able to adopt the 2020-21 Engineer's Annual Report and approve the LLD assessment for 2020-21.
The proposed 2020-21 LLD assessment timeline is outlined below:
• February 25, 2020: Authorization requested for Willdan Financial Services, the LLD Engineer, to begin work on the Preliminary Engineer’s Report.
• April 1, 2020: Preliminary Engineer’s Report is presented to the Community and Human Services Commission for review.
• May 12, 2020: LLD Engineer presents the preliminary report to the City Council for review. The City Council considers adoption of the resolution of intent to set fees for 2019-20 and sets the date for the public hearing.
• June 9, 2020: Public hearing is conducted to consider adoption of the Engineer’s Annual Report and approval of LLD assessments for 2020-21.
• August 2020: Assessment information is delivered to the County Assessor.
RELATIONSHIP TO CITY PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Staff has evaluated the agenda item in relationship to the City’s strategic and visioning documents and finds the following:
Council Priorities - This item addresses the Council Priority: Financial Stability.
Sustainability Plan - The item complies with the goals of Sustainability Plan 6.4.6 Maintain a positive cost/revenue balance in City budgets.
Economic Sustainability Plan - This item relates to the Changing the Economic Model recommendations outlined in the Economic Sustainability Plan.
General Plan - The item addresses Measure III-42 relating to the Physical Improvements Capital Projects and Maintenance of the General Plan and furthers the goal of continuing to provide well maintained lights and landscape within the City.
2019-20 Budget - The item meets the following Community Services Department Work Plan Goals:
• CS-3: Ensure City street lights are in good and safe working condition;
• CS-8: Ensure that parks are in healthy and clean condition, free from litter, graffiti, pests, and disease, to provide a safe environment for the public;
• CS-9: Ensure that rights-of-way, parkways, and Village planters are well maintained, free of litter, weeds, and brown spots, with healthy and vigorous plants that represent a good distribution of color; and
• CS-12: Preserve and maintain a healthy urban forest that will improve the environment and provide overall beauty to the community.
Youth and Family Master Plan - This item does not relate to the objectives in the Youth and Family Master Plan.
CEQA REVIEW
This item (authorizing the preparation of the engineer’s report for the Landscape and Lighting and Assessment District Annual Update) is not subject to environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c)(2) (the activity will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment) and Section 15060(c)(3) (the activity is not a “project” as defined in Section 15378). CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(2), (4), and (5) excludes “[c]ontinuing administrative or maintenance activities,” “[t]he creation of government funding mechanisms or other government fiscal activities which do not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment,” and “administrative activities of governments that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes to the environment” from its definition of “project.”
Even if the engineer’s report were a “project” under CEQA, it would be statutorily exempt from environmental review, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15273(a)(4) (obtaining funds for capital projects, necessary to maintain service within existing service areas) and categorically exempt pursuant to CEQA Guideline Section 15306 (information collection). This update is to determine if the existing maintenance assessment should be modified and if so by how much based on the Consumer Price Index change. The Section 15273(a)(4) exemption is applicable because the purpose of the annual assessment is to provide funding to maintain public landscaping and streetlights within the City of Claremont. The Section 15306 exemption is applicable because the report consists of basic data collection, research, and resource evaluation activities that will not result in a serious or major disturbance to an environmental resource.
Additionally, this item is exempt pursuant to CEQA Guideline Section 15061(b)(3)’s “general rule” that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Here, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that this item, in and of itself, will have a significant effect on the environment. The action will simply provide funding to maintain the public landscaping and streetlights. Therefore, no additional environmental review is necessary at this time.
PUBLIC NOTICE PROCESS
This item has been noticed through the regular agenda notification process. Copies are available at the City Hall public counter, the Youth Activity Center, the Alexander Hughes Community Center, and on the City website.
Submitted by: Prepared by:
Jeremy Swan Grant Garcia
Community Services Director Administrative Intern
Attachment:
Proposed Resolution